Northfield
Northfield Industrial Fabrications Ltd ''' (NIF) was founded in the late 1940s at Ossett, West Yorkshire England. Company History Northfield Industrial Fabrications Ltd (NIF) was started in the 1940s and were actually makers of dumptrailers, cargotrailers and other heavy trailer types for the UK Agriculture, Construction and Mining industries to handle all kinds of general cargo and large specialised freights. Then in the late 1950s the firm developed and invented their first own original vehicle called the new ADT. These brand-new Northfield F-Series were the ancestors and forerunners of today´s modern looking ADTs and their first Northfield models of the 1950s were powered by standard tractor diesel engine usually a modified Fordson mounted over the front axle with front wheel drive, had power steering, fitted with equal tractor tyres and a oneman enclosed drivers cab. Later on alternative updated running gear was available for the larger models. The Northfield company were slowly to became one of the early builders of off-highway dumptrucks in England joining other longer established existing makes such as Aveling-Barford, DJB, Heathfield and Thornycroft to name a few domestic manufacturers. Just like Camill and Whitlock, Northfield were one of the first British developers and manufacturers of the two axled tractor-trailer haulier designed as a single purpose integrated unit with 180 Degree articulation activated by two pairs of hydraulic rams built on every Northfield F-Series, their trucks were usually powered by famed and durable Ford Diesel 6-cylinder or Perkins Diesel 4-cylinder and later Straigh-six engines. These were available in a small model range of only four different but original ADT models called the F7, the F9 soon joined by the heavier F12 and the F14. Unfortunately NIF LTD production was ended in the 1970s with around 500-600 or so dumptrucks models are reputed to have been assembled and made in total as they could no longer compete together with much bigger specialists of similar vehicles that dominated the UK market at that time. '''Northfield Dumptrucks were mainly ADT models which were made from the 1960s to the 1970 by a small mechanical engineering firm called NIF Limited also known as Northfield Industrial Fabrications Ltd based at Ossett in West Yorkshire, England. At that time during the 1960s and 1970s many other UK specialist machinery builders and engineering firms also developed, built and made many prototypes and roadworthy Articulated Dump Truck models all of them pioneering the new ADT layout a recent and latest concept of construction trucks that was found to offer improved traction over tractor and trailer or the conventional rigid dump truck for use on and off road usually seen in construction sites, ore mines, quarries and many sold for roadbuilding. The fashion of British made new ADT Concept was a tremendous success because they could bend in the middle when driven and many future earthmover manufacturers would produce very similar machines often in 4X4 and 6WD forms using TD and TDI modern running gear. The Northfield Original Model Range * Northfield F7 - A 12 ton fully articulated dumptruck with Perkins P4D 4-cylinder engine and automatic 5 speed transmission many worked as mining trucks. Some were also fitted with the Ford Diesel Engine as used on the successful Ford Custom Class trucks at the time. * Northfield F9 - A heavier 14 ton ADT larger than the F7 with Ford 3600 6-cylinder Diesel engine and Ford 6 speed manual gearbox popular as a mining dumptruck as well as a quarry truck. Several were powered by a more powerful Perkins P6 Diesel straight-six for heavy work. * Northfield F12 - A 20 ton ADT larger and heavier new model with Ford 3600 Diesel 6-cylinder engine and a new farmtractor Ford 6 speed manual transmission. Alternatively the same Perkins P6D engine was also available with better torque. * Northfield F14 - A 25 ton prototype large ADT that had Ford 4WD Tractor axles and mechanicals with a choice of the more powerful Perkins P6D engine which were known for reliability and ruggedness until in the 1970s also a Perkins V8 Diesel model was also offered but was never produced in large numbers. Gallery of images A_1961_NORTHFIELD_F7_Diesel_ADT.jpg|Northfield F7 1957_NORTHFIELD_F7_Diesel_ADT.jpg|A 1950s NORTHFIELD F7 ADT with Ford Lorry Diesel engine Another_Northfield_F7_ADT_Diesel_Mining_model.jpg|link=Wakefield Libraries|Another 1960s Northfield F7 ADT Diesel Mining model Northfield_F7_ADT_Diesel.jpg||A 1960s Northfield F7 ADT with Perkins P6 Diesel engine A_1960s_Northfield_F9_ADT_Diesel.jpg|A 1970s Northfield F9 ADT Diesel also with FORD Custom Class lorry engine working in a Yorkshire quarry A_1960s_NORTHFIELD_F9_Mining_ADT_Diesel.jpg|link=Wakefield Libraries|A 1960s Northfield F9 ADT Diesel Quarry model Northfield_F9_ADT_Diesel.jpg|A 1970s Advertisment for the Northfield F9 ADT Diesel with Perkins P6D engine See also for more information * ADT * Construction Plant Manufactures ** Shawnee Poole - early units combining dump trailer & a tractor power unit References / sources Further reading Some books for more information and photographs as well as hundreds of other makers are: * Ford Tractor Conversions, by Stuart Gibbard Published 1995 + Reprinted 2003 by Old Pond Publishing UK * HEAVY EQUIPMENT GIANTS OF CONSTRUCTION AND MINING by John Tipler 2000 by Chartwell Books INC. USA * OFF HIGHWAY AND CONSTRUCTION TRUCKS by Arthur Ingram and Colin Peck Published 1980 Blandford Press Ltd UK * THE EARTHMOVER ENCYCLOPEDIA by Keith Haddock Published 2002 by MBI Motorbooks Publishing Co of USA * THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TRUCKS AND BUSES by Denis Miller Published 1982 by Quantum Books UK * THE WORLD´S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TRUCKS by Peter J. Davies Published in 2000 by Lorenz Books Ltd of England External links Category:Companies founded in the 1940s Category:Northfield (Dump trucks) Category:ADT manufacturers Category:Dump truck manufacturers Category:Companies based in West Yorkshire Category:Defunct companies of the United Kingdom Category:Companies of the United Kingdom